Lyoto Machida Not Fighting at UFC 89

First Thiago Silva injured his back, then the UFC pulled Lyoto Machida’s name off the UFC 89 event site and now Machida confirmed to Tatame that he doesn’t know when he’s fighting next. “I don’t know who’ll I’ll face, UFC didn’t say anything yet, only that I won’t fight at UFC 89,” Machida explained.

The undefeated UFC light heavyweight fighter has five victories in the Octagon, including his most recent at UFC 84 where he dominated former UFC champion Tito Ortiz for 15 minutes.

Other fighters with a similar resume would already have a title shot, but it’s Machida’s style that has prevented him from securing a bout with Forrest Griffin.

Now, it’s Rashad Evans who will get a crack at the newly crowned light heavyweight champion after knocking out another former champion in Chuck Liddell at UFC 88 this past Saturday.

The early rumor is that the UFC may be considering putting Machida up against a returning Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 92 in December. Rua is coming off of back-t0-back knee surgeries (on the same knee) and is looking to regain his spot in the world’s light heavyweight rankings.